Chinese wedding traditions: 3. Tea ceremony

Tea ceremony is an important ritual on a Chinese wedding, it is the most emotional and touching moment on the wedding day.
After the gate crash game, before the groom takes the bride away, he will offer a cup of tea to all the bride’s families who attended the ceremony and say goodbye to them.

In Chinese culture, after getting married, two families become one single family, the groom and bride will address both parents “dad” and “mum”. And the change happens on this very touching tea ceremony.

Some little moments about the tea ceremony:

a. Groom offers a cup of tea to bride’s families
It happens in the bride’s family when the groom go to pick up the bride, the groom offers tea to the bride’s family and address them “dad” and “mum”, the family offers a red bag to the groom as a wedding gift.

b. The groom carries the bride to the car
Like many other cultures, the groom carries the bride to the new home over the threshold. One reason of this can trace back to Roman times, there is a saying that this is to avoid the bride brings in the evil spirit from the ground.

c. Firecrackers before entering the new home
Boo!Pop! Bang!
“Firecrackers” is another must have in any Chinese celebrations, you can find them on Chinese new year, birthday party, wedding…

There is a saying that the fire and the loud cracking noise can scare away the evil spirits, that’s why before the groom and the new bride enters the house, the fire crackers will be lit.

d. Eat the soup made of food represents “Give birth to a son soon”
After the couple go back to the groom’s place, the families will offer some food to bring luck to the couple.

e. The bride offers tea to groom’s families
The bride offers tea to her parents in law and starting now address them “dad” and “mum”, she also gets red bags from the families.

Now the tea ceremony is finished, the couple takes a rest and prepare the dinner reception. I will write about it in another post
So this is all I can think of for now, there is a full video about the tea ceremony from a Chinese wedding, you can find it here:

The tea ceremony is the most significant tradition of a Chinese wedding . It is where the bride and groom pay respect and show gratitude towards their family, who in turn blesses the newly weds as they start their life as husband and wife.